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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: degree · pitch · club · season · jam · race · file · row

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. degree — an amount
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitch — completely
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. row — to paddle
  10. season — of the year
  11. degree — from a university
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. degree — temperature
  16. season — in sport
  17. race — a contest
  18. club — for golf
  19. row — a line
  20. file — a document
  21. club — a group
  22. file — a tool
  23. race — the arms race
  24. race — humankind

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com